Community News

Civil War re-enactment is Friday and Saturday at Maritime Museum

Jeanne McDougall and Bob Zentz will play Civil War-era music at 7 p.m. prior to the re-enactment and during the production.

On the 150th anniversary of the event, August 16-17, the Deltaville Maritime Museum will present a re-enactment of John Taylor Wood’s “Ambush at Wilton Creek and Capture on the Rappahannock.”

At 7 p.m., Bob Zentz and Jeanne McDougall, renowned musicians of the Chesapeake, will perform a medley of Civil War songs. Their ensemble will also provide background music throughout the re-enactment, which will begin immediately after the concert at approximately 7:30 p.m.

In 1863, John Taylor Wood, who was an officer in the Confederate Navy and the nephew of Jefferson Davis and the grandson of President Zachery Taylor, built four 30-foot boarding cutters at Rocketts Shipyard in Richmond. The cutters were designed to be carried on wagons. The express purpose of this “Navy on Wheels” was to capture Union vessels.

After commandeering several commercial vessels early in the year, Wood turned his sights to Union gunboats. He hoped to not only capture the boats for use by the Confederacy, but to break the blockade enforced by these vessels. For his first campaign against the gunboats, he selected an area far from prying eyes—Turk’s Ferry Farm, Piankatank River, Middlesex County. What happened on the Piankatank and later on the Rappahannock is the stuff of legend and the subject of this re-enactment.

Wood will be played by Kevin Gentry, who has performed often with the Courthouse Players. Don Kenefick, an experienced Civil War re-enactor, will play Bohemian. The narrator is Mary-Carlin Porter, who brings a wealth of experience and a lovely voice to the role. Deltaville’s own Rob Brooks will play Colonel Rosser of the 5th Virginia Cavalry, Susan Leggett will be Captain Fitzhugh, Parker Harrington will portray a midshipman, and Kaptain Krunch will be Commander Hotchkiss. At least a dozen other friends and neighbors are in the play as extras, and there will be a special appearance by Abraham Lincoln.

Tickets are $10 for adults age 18 and over, and free for children under age 18. Tickets may be purchased at the Deltaville Maritime Museum, Nauti Nell’s, and J&W Seafood in Deltaville, Middlesex County Museum in Saluda, Lowe Tide in Urbanna, Papeterie in Kilmarnock, and Wild Rabbit Café in Gloucester.

Folding metal chairs will be available, but spectators may bring their own chairs and coolers.

For more information, call Smith 804-815-3102 or the Deltaville Maritime Museum at 776-7200.